A petition demanding that Rishton's only bank stays open has collected more than 450 signatures.

The High Street bank is set to close its doors today (Friday) after banking giant HSBC announced plans to close the branch.

But Rishton resident Susan Stace was so furious about the proposals that she launched her own one-women protest.

Susan collected the names over the course of just five hours while she stood outside the bank urging by-passers to sign her petition to keep the bank open.

The 53-year-old, of High Street said: "When I was doing the petition, I had loads of people going past and not one of them refused to sign it. There really is a very strong public feeling about this.

"They say people can do internet banking, but not everyone wants to do that. Not everyone has a computer and many people don't want to do it. I want to talk to a real person when I do my banking.

The decision has been attacked by residents and councillors who say they feel the closure is an attack on the Rishton community.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe expressed his disappointment in HSBC's decision to close the branch.

He said: "I understand the bank, which has now closed its doors, was very important to the local economy of Rishton and I'm very sorry to see it go.

"However these things happen in an economy which is as weak as ours and this is just one more blow to the people of Hyndburn.

"Officially we are supposed to have just come out of the recession but I suspect this is just in the south and here in the north we are still paying a heavy price."

A spokesman from HSBC said the decision to close the branch was partly due to the fact that last year the branch opened "no new accounts" while the average use was "just nine personal customers per hour."

A spokesman said: "We fully understand that some customers and also non-customers, are very disappointed if the decision to close their local branch is made, and in the case of Rishton may even campaign for it to stay open.

"However, before the decision to close a branch is taken, we look at all possibilities and options to maintain a service.

"In Rishton's case, the steady decline in customer usage of the branch left us with no other choice but to close.

"We will now do all we can to help our local customers access their banking, either at the branch two miles away in Accrington or via the phone or internet."